Ten months going on two years

This little boy has very little in common with the one we brought home 10 months ago.  He's become crazy, danger-seeking, crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything baby.  He's mastering the temper tantrum--when upset will arch his back and flail like a madman while screaming.  If he had an online profile, it would read something like this:

Hobbies: playing in dirt if he can find it, putting anything related to the dogs in his mouth, playing tug of war with Leroy, sneaking up on Jack, banging on things, giving toothy grins when you tell him "un uh", making door stops make the boing noise,  biting/sucking/pulling electrical cords, tipping over the dogs' water bowl, latching onto any and all plastic bags

Food: mashed potatoes, beef, turkey, cheese, whatever it is that you're eating (particularly if there is a limited quantity and you are really hungry and really want to eat it)

Literature: anything by Dr. Seus, Brown Bear, the first half of most books but not usually the second half

Film: Baby Einstein (only when nothing else will work ;-)

Heroes: Leroy (seriously, if Leroy is doing something interesting--he will totally take Leroy over Mommy)

Hates: the car (with a furious  passion, still)

His sleep has changed a lot this month.  He's dropped the 3rd nap and in Kansas City, for some reason, he only thinks he needs one.  Hopefully that's a fluke.  

He tolerates the high chair pretty well and is a pretty good eater.  He eats comically large portions of food and will grunt and reach for more--particularly if we're talking about mashed potatoes or meat.  The boy loves steak.  

Overall, he's become a much more independent boy.  A few months ago, you couldn't really put him down.  Now, he goes on little journeys around the house by himself for 20-30 minutes at a time.  Of course, he still often crawls to our legs where he pulls himself up and reaches to be picked up--but that's just adorable.  And of course, he spends most of his independent time seeking danger.  We have taken to putting him in a cardboard box every now and then.  What?  He likes it.  

Note the intense sorrow that befell him when the toy was taken away.

Trying to pull it together.

Okay, you can have it back.

Space

That is a king-sized bed.  It improves the quality of our life by a factor of 10 or so.  We finally have room for the two adults, two pups and one baby who sleep in our bed, and it's just lovely.

A crib was one of the first things we got when we began the nesting process.  I really thought you needed a crib for a baby.  Who knew?  When he was younger we did transfer him to the crib a few times.  Grandmas love to try to get a baby to sleep in a crib.  They've each been successful a time or two.  I very much like our cuddling time though.  And I like the amount of sleep I get.

The king-sized bed is part of our bedroom makeover.  We decorated every other room in the house before Eli showed up.  We hadn't been able to decide what to do with the room.  Finally, a few weeks ago we decided to sell all of the existing furniture (mostly antiques with sustained value) and buy crap from Ikea (sure to be worth half what we paid for it in a year).  The trade down in furniture has helped to fund the makeover and Ikea stuff is really more functional and space efficient.

I've always hated white walls, but Kenny came up with this idea.

White walls with a mint green ceiling.  It's ridiculously peaceful.  

The condition of my space is very important to me.  I can't relax if things are cluttered.  In the process of redecorating we've managed to clean out everything in the bedroom, and it makes me so happy.  A few months ago everything at home was a mess and work was fairly calm.  For months, baby juggling left no time for getting the laundry done, much less keeping anything organized.  We've finally figured out how to occasionally accomplish things around the house (or Eli has gotten to an age where it has become possible).  Right now work is chaotic and home is very smooth.  Maybe I should clean out my cube.